With the Flow
by Usami
Summary: After years of wondering, it seems they've finally discovered the answers they wanted. But the consequences to their knowledge are far greater than they anticipated.


I'm not entirely sure how to explain this story. I guess I got the idea for it one day when I was watching my older sister play the GBA remake of "Super Mario Bros. 3" and made a rather interesting observation (which I won't reveal now, lest I give away the entire story...). The more I thought about it, the more the story developed in my head, and the more into it I got. But I didn't think I'd ever write it down because I thought that it was only in the GBA remake.

Some months later, however, we bought the original "Super Mario Bros. 3" on the virtual console on the Wii, and I realized that the observation I made in the remake was also true in the original! Granted, the graphics differed slightly from the two versions...but the fact that the observation held true (at least in my mind) despite the different graphic developments just made me want to write this story more. And thus...the prologue.

I'm pretty sure this would count as a slight AU, just because of how the story progesses. I'm also planning on using things from various games, as well as other information that may not be officially confirmed by Nintendo. I ask you all to bear with me, and hopefully this story will fit all of our expectations.

Anyway, enough of my author rambling. Enjoy!

**With the Flow**

As the sun slowly faded across the horizon, the last of its light basked the earth in an eerie orange glow that promised them only empty warmth. He watched as his shadow danced across the stone slabs before them, growing larger as the sun continued to disappear.

It was going to get dark, and they would have to leave soon, if only to escape the cold night air. But he couldn't bring himself to force his brother away from there yet; the younger had just calmed down, and leaving now would only bring a fresh set of tears.

Rubbing the back of his head, he quickly blinked away his own tears that threatened to fall. He would do his grieving later, probably when his brother was asleep. For now, he had to be strong for both of them.

The brothers weren't entirely sure how it happened – no one would tell them much. The only thing they heard was that their parents were in an accident. Their mother never made it to the hospital, and their father was barely holding on when they finally got to see him. He died the next day.

Everything after that had been a haze, including the funeral just a few hours ago. People they didn't know came up to them, gave their condolences, talked to them…talked _about_ them. He couldn't remember how many times he heard people wondering where "those two teens would live now."

Interesting how so many people would ask when it seemed no one was willing to take them.

Drawn out of his thoughts when he caught his twin shivering, he blinked to adjust his eyes to the darkness. With a sigh, he knelt down beside the other and placed a gentle hand on the trembling shoulder. "Weegie…" he said, hoping the nickname would provide some comfort, "we gotta go…"

Hesitantly the younger brother looked at him, tears once again forming in the corner of his eyes. "Go where?" he wondered in a raspy voice. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"Y'know…We're supposed to go to –" He paused when the word caught in his throat. It never felt right calling the man 'uncle'. "We're supposed to go to Dad's brother's place and live with him, remember?"

His brother looked away, wiping his eyes with the back of his gloved hand. "I don't wanna…" he muttered.

"Luigi…" he began, but stopped when he realized he had no words to convince the younger to go. Personally, he didn't like the idea of living with their uncle either. Their older cousin, Waluigi, was always picking on and teasing Luigi, which would no doubt get worse once they moved in. Though he tried to protect his brother as best he could, he often had his own problems dealing with their other cousin, Wario, who always found enough reason to hassle him. And their uncle was no help either against the bigger, older boys. Actually, he was quite sure their uncle encouraged their cousins to pick on them.

"Besides," his brother piped up suddenly, "they don't want us living with them. Our uncle, our cousins…they don't want us." He sniffled and bowed his head, pulling the bill of his cap over his eyes. "No one wants us. No one _ever_ wanted us…"

"Weege, you know that's not true," he argued. "You know Mom and Dad loved us…a _lot_."

"I know…" Luigi whispered, looking up at him. "But what about our _real_ parents?"

He flinched a little; he knew the subject would come up sooner or later, but he still wasn't prepared for it. Sitting down beside his brother, he looked at the mounds of dirt before them. "I dunno…" he replied honestly. Then, with a small shrug, he added, "But hey, we've gotten along just fine without 'em so far. We don't need 'em."

The green-clad teen sniffled. "That's 'cause we had Mom and Dad…But we still don't even know who they are." He looked at his older brother. "Haven't you ever wondered about 'em, Mario? Don't you wanna _know_?"

Tilting back his red cap, Mario sighed and glanced at the evening sky. Of course he wanted to know; ever since their parents told them the story of how they were adopted, the two brothers often exchanged ideas and fantasies about who their real parents were and why they were never found. They were never too serious when talking about their real parents, though, because they loved the parents they already had…but that didn't stop them from being curious.

Now that Mom and Dad were gone though…

"I guess it doesn't matter, anyway," he heard Luigi suddenly remark. "_They _didn't want us neither…"

"Aw, c'mon, Weege. How do you know that?"

The younger teen gave the other a sideways glance. "It's been almost fifteen years, Mario," he retorted. "If they really wanted us, they would have found us by now."

"Well, maybe they just had some trouble lookin'," the older twin replied, hoping the optimism hid his own doubt. "Maybe they were just havin' a hard time…"

"Or maybe they just didn't _want_ us," Luigi stressed again, squeezing his eyes shut as tears once again streamed down his face.

Mario reached over and wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders, holding the shuddering body close to him. His heart pounded painfully when he heard the other whimper softly, trying so hard to stifle the frustrated cries in his throat. He couldn't stand seeing his brother so upset, and he knew he had to do _something_. He was the older brother, after all…He had to protect Luigi.

But just what was he supposed to do about _this_?

Biting his tongue, he glanced at the tombstones of their parents as if hoping they would tell him what to do…tell him how to help his brother this time. Of course he knew they would never answer him…They would never say anything to them ever again. Still, as he stared hard at their dad's grave, he wasn't surprised when an idea finally came to him.

Gently rubbing Luigi's shoulder, Mario then slowly drew away. "C'mon," he said softly. "Let's go…"

Sniffling and wiping his eyes, the younger one watched curiously as his twin rose to his feet. "G-go where?" he wondered.

The red-capped teen brushed the dirt off his jeans, avoiding his brother's gaze as he answered, "First, we're gonna head back to the house and get our stuff. Then…we'll go wherever we want."

Luigi frowned, blinking away the rest of his tears. "What are you talking about?"

"If nobody wants us," Mario replied, finally meeting the other's eyes, "then we'll go and give them a _reason_ to want us. We'll travel the world, and someday we'll show everyone just how great we really are!"

Despite himself, Luigi couldn't stop the laugh that forced itself free. "We're not _that_ great, Mario…"

"Says who?" he demanded with a grin. Placing a proud hand to his chest, he continued, "Dad always told us that as long as we did our best, we could do anything! So let's show 'em. We'll journey everywhere, and we'll make people sorry they ever ignored us."

Realizing that his brother was serious, Luigi glanced back at the tombstones. "But we can't just leave…"

"Why not? It'll be an adventure! Besides, Dad was planning to take us on a world trip anyway."

"Yeah, when we were out of school," Luigi reminded him. "We can't just pick up and go. We're only kids…Who's gonna take care of us?"

Mario shrugged. "We'll just take care of each other," he answered simply. "C'mon, Luigi, it'll be fun. Besides, it's either this, or we go and live with Wario and Waluigi…"

The younger teen's face crinkled, and he stuck out his tongue. "Ugh…no way."

Mario laughed. "Exactly." He held out his hand to his brother. "We got nothing else to lose, Luigi. So let's give it a shot."

Staring at the extended hand for a moment, Luigi then once again looked up at his brother's face. Travel the world…on their own? Was that even possible? They had never even left _town_ before…The farthest place they've ever traveled was to the Mushroom Castle, and _only_ if they were accompanying Dad on a trip to visit his palace friend. So who could believe that two teens were going off to see the world by themselves?

It should have been a terrifying thought. But as he looked into his older brother's encouraging eyes, it was hard to find a reason to be afraid. And if Mario was with him, maybe it wouldn't be _so_ bad.

With a hesitant smile, Luigi reached up and grasped Mario's hand, letting the other help him to his feet. "Okay," he finally replied. "It couldn't hurt, I guess…"

Giving the other's hand a gentle squeeze, Mario looked up at his taller brother and grinned. "I knew you'd see it my way," he said. "Now we better get our stuff and go while it's still dark, so nobody will see us leave."

With one last respectful wish to their parents, the two brothers crept out of the cemetery and headed towards their house to prepare for their long trip. Following behind the red-clad teen, Luigi looked up at the starry sky. "Hey, Mario…?" he asked softly.

The elder brother glanced over his shoulder. "What?"

"Do you think…we'll find our real parents?"

For a moment, Mario remained silent as several answers flew through his mind. He knew better than to get their hopes up, but he certainly didn't want to take away whatever hope was left. So in the end, he could only answer, "If we do, or if we don't…at least we'll do it together."

**TBC**


End file.
